Button Ups And Boxers
by TheLittleMermano
Summary: Gilbert, previously Julchen, realizes he's transgender. His best friend, Elizabeta, tells him she's behind him all the way. Companion fic to Dresses And Bows.
1. Chapter 1

**I just wanted to say that since this is a companion fic to ****_Dresses And Bows, _****it is not required you read both; but some of the characters will cross paths, and mention each other.**

* * *

Elizabeta combed through her friend's long, white hair, and began braiding it.

"Liz,"

"Yes?"

"I have a secret."

"Oh?" Liz gigged and continued braiding. Julchen's hair was beautiful. The perfect mix of thick and thin. Her hair was a beautiful color, too. A shiny silver that went down to her lower back, with bangs that hung over her eyes if she didn't pin them back.

"I think I'm in the wrong body." Julchen kept her gaze on the floor as she twiddled her thumbs. It was a secret that she'd been keeping for a long time now, not even telling her best friend.

"What?"

"I think I was meant to be a boy."

"…Oh…"

"So can you call me a he? And refer to me as Gilbert from now on? If you're cool with it, that is… I know it's weird."

"It's not weird," Liz frowned.

"What? It's not?"

"Some people are born a different sex than their gender, there's plenty of people like you. It's normal."

_He _turned around, giving Elizabeta a big grin. "Really?"

Liz nodded, and laughed quietly. "Yes. It's called beings transgender. Trans for short."

"…That's awesome!" He jumped up off the bed and pumped his fist in the air. "I thought I was insane!"

"Perhaps you should've done some research."

"I think I will anyways, I want to learn more."

"Good idea." Liz smiled. "Maybe you could talk to Antonio's sister, or Mattie. Both of them are transgender as well."

"Wait, what?" Gilbert looked at her in confusion. "Mattie? The quiet kid from school? He's trans? How do you know all of this—"

"Gay Straight Alliance. Even though it doesn't have transgender in, trans folk come anyways. And I know about Antonio's sister because of reasons." Liz grinned.

"Okay then… that's kinda creepy. "And I have another favor to ask."

"Hm?"

"Can you cut my hair? I don't want it long. I'm a guy." Gilbert grinned. Calling himself a guy felt _amazing. _

"…Sure, Let's go." Liz stood up and pulled him into her bathroom. She was a bit sad had to cut all of Gilbert's hair. It was so pretty… but she knew it had to be done. For his happiness. "Are your parents gonna be cool with this?"

"What? Being trans or having short hair?"

"Both," Liz grabbed a pair of scissors from the counter and kept a tight grip on them.

"They'll deal with it."

"Okay…"

Since the braid in his hair was mostly intact, she decided to just start there. She cut through the braid, and let it fall to the ground.

His hair was messy and uneven now, and went just past his jaw line. "Wow, nice job Lizzy." Gilbert snickered.

"Oh hush, I'm not done yet." She huffed, and continued to cut of chunks of hair. "How short do you want it?"

"I just want to look like a boy. But I want to keep my bangs kinda long."

"Okay, can do."

"So you're okay with this, right? You still wanna be my friend?"

"Of course I am… And yes, I do. Nothing has changed. Actually, I kind of suspected you weren't cis. I don't know how I knew… I just did."

"…What does cis mean?"

"It means the sex you were born as matches your gender. It's the opposite of trans, I guess."

…

The bathroom floor was covered in white hair, and it would be a mess to clean up. But Gilbert's face was completely worth it. He was a happy person, but Liz had never seen him smile so much.

"Thank you, So, So much, Liz."

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**A/N: Hello! This chapter is much shorter than i wanted it to be, and i apologize for that. The other's will be longer though! Also, I wanted to ask, since i mentioned Mattie here... Should I make a one-shot companion for this series? Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: Body Dysphoria**

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It was dark.

It was cold.

Gilbert kept his arms as far as possible from his chest.

Today was a particularly dysphoric day, one of the first ones he'd had in awhile. He wanted to wear his new binder to bed, but Liz had told him that was a bad idea. And he trusted her, so he listened.

But here he was, lying almost completely naked on his bed, at three o'clock in the morning, crying his eyes out.

His hair was messy and his eyes were red, and his stomach hurt like hell. This didn't feel manly at all.

This monthly reminder that his body wasn't born a male was horrible. He dreaded this week. Not only was it usually synonymous with the word woman; it hurt, and it reminded him he had a uterus. Sometimes he just wanted to take a dull butter knife, stick it in his stomach, and cut it out. It'd hurt less than this, geez.

He wiped his eyes with his hand, accidentally brushing against his chest as he moved his hand to his face.

He flinched.

He was trying to pretend those weren't there. He wasn't looking at them, wasn't touching them, wasn't thinking about... Those... Those _things. _

Those life-ruining sacks of fat on his chest.

Freaking man boobs.

He wanted pecs, not those tender little weaklings.

They were useless.

He wasn't going to breastfeed. Ever. So why?

Well, if he was going on the same logic, he wasn't ever going to have a baby, either. So his period was even more useless.

Ugh. Bodily functions. Oh how he would _love _being able to pee standing up. Bioguys seemed to take that for granted.

But, anyways, aside from peeing, there were so many other things he'd be able to do with a male body.

Not have to wear a binder, not having to work out harder to build up muscle, not have to worry about looking too girly…

People would actually see him as a guy.

But, that wouldn't happen for a long time.

He had already started saving up for top surgery and other manly things, though. A better binder to last him until his surgery, for instance. And of course, hormone replacement.

He had to come out to his parents before that, though.

He couldn't wait to go on testosterone. Muscles, littler curves, _facial hair._

_And his period will stop._

Manliness, he was on his way.

But until then, he was stuck with boobs, shedding organs, and a smooth face. Estrogen was a curse.

His mind started to go back to more negative thoughts again, which caused his head to hurt. Great, that was the last thing he wanted.

He glanced at his phone that was next to him on his bed as he wondered if he should call Liz. But she was probably asleep. It was the middle of the night, of course she was.

He reached for his phone regardless, and dialed her number. Texting would have been a better thing now that he thought about, but he didn't always make the smartest decisions. The phone rang, and rang, until there was a beep, and Elizabeta's voice began talking. Ugh, voicemail.

"Hey, uh, this is Elizabeta. Or Liz, whichever you call me. I don't really know what to say for this but I guess I'll call you back when I see this? If it's an emergency, try calling me in a few minutes or texting me. Leave a message and I'll get back to you!" A moment later, there was another beep.

He propped himself up onto his elbows.

"Hi Liz... Its... its Gilbert. Sorry if it freaks you out that you got a call from me at three-thirty A.M, it's not an emergency or anything. I… I just needed someone to talk to. I know you won't call back but if you could call as soon as you could that'd be great? I doubt I'll be sleeping tonight anyways, so don't worry about waking me up. I'm just having a bad night. So... Thanks. I'll talk to you later, hopefully."

He hung up and sighed, flopping back down onto the bed and tossing his phone next to him.

And what seemed like only a few moments later, his phone rang.

He propped himself up again and grabbed his phone. "I didn't think she'd call this quickly.. What is she even doing up?" He mumbled to himself and held his phone up to his ear.

"'Ello?"

"Oh, god, Gilbert are you alright? What happened? You need to vent, right? Well go on!"

"I can't say anything if you keep talking!" He chuckled, wiping his eyes with his free hand.

"…Oh shut up. What's up?" She asked, sounding a tad concerned. Okay, maybe a bit more than just a tad.

"Moobs. Blood shed. Baby face with no stubble. You know, the usual." Gilbert huffed as he sat up, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh. Man problems."

Gilbert chuckled at this. "Yeah, 'man problems'. More like girl problems."

"Except you're the one having these problems, and you're a man. So they're man problems. They aren't girl problems. 'kay?"

"Fine…" Except in a way they were girl problems. It was a problem that he, physically, was a girl. And he hated it. So, so much.

"Good, now anything else?"

"Well for starters, why are you awake?"

"Couldn't sleep," She said quickly. It was obvious she was lying, but he decided to let it go for now.

"…Okay… Well like I said, I just needed someone to talk to besides dumb and dumber." He frowned, glancing at his chest.

"What?"

"Moobs." He said flatly.

"Oh. Yeah... Well, just remember that your body will only be like this temporarily. Hopefully soon you'll be going on testosterone, and in a few years you'll be able to have top surgery."

Gilbert sighed. "Yeah, but a few years is minimum five years. That's so long…"

"It really isn't! it'll go by really quickly, I know it. Do you want to stay on the phone and talk? It take your mind off things." He could almost _hear _her smile.

They talked until the sun rose, before agreeing they should probably try and get some sleep. Thank goodness it wasn't a school night…

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**A/N: So, uh, wow. I feel like writing this series of stories helped me realize some stuff. It had me thinking about gender, which is a thing i've struggled with for the past year. But, i got it figured out! Yay for me! :D**


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